“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”

Prof. Albus Dumbledore

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

It might sound obvious, but great leaders usually have a great team behind them. It is also likely that there are key people on this team, that are trusted advisers of their team leader (no matter the title they might have). It also follows that in most organizations, the person who is designated as the number 3 and the number 4 are often in-charge of significant components of the organization and thus can carry a lot of influence throughout the organization, not just in their teams. Often they are also trusted advisers. In a Government agency, it is not unusual for the head of the Department to have little experience or very few if any qualifications, in the area that the Department has responsibility for. This means that they are effectively a General Manager who relies on the advice of senior leaders within the organization. These senior leaders also have or should have advisers. These advisers, irrespective of their title or their position, can be thought of as  leaders, perhaps even a senior leader, if they are exerting influence over the decision making in the upper levels of the organization. Why is this important? According to John Maxwell, leadership is influence.

“After more than five decades of observing leaders around the world and many years of developing my own leadership potential, I have come to this conclusion: Leadership is influence. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less. That’s why my favorite leadership proverb is “He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.”

Maxwell, John. C. (2018). Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 (eBook). Nashville, Tennessee: Harper Collins. (Ch.1, p13 of 236 pages).

The point John Maxwell makes is worth noting. A key indicator that someone has the hallmarks of a great leader or that they are an emerging leader who should be on everyone’s radar, is their ability to influence not just people but processes and policy as well. Our known leader, who is the sounding board for leaders upstream from them, suggests that they are a significant leader, who should be on everyone’s radar. Depending on the breadth and depth of the influence, they may well be regarded as a senior leader, at least by the leadership team. Often their influence represents hidden leadership within the organization.

Consider this hypothetical.

A new Division Manager begins at the (hypothetical) Department of Government. They soon realize that the existing leadership team is highly talented and very cohesive. By the time this Manager finishes, having been promoted into another Department, every member of their leadership team has been promoted into other leadership roles, either within the Department or within the sector. Over time, this gave the Manager a chance to develop more leaders of the future, as they replaced the people who were promoted from the leadership team. This new Manager is astute enough to know that they quickly need to get a handle on the Division, its history, its culture and its connections to the community. On staff is a highly regarded staff member, lets call them Jo, who has been working with Government for 30 years, having been a Grade 6 (out of a possible of 36 Grades) and a Branch Head in another Department. Some years ago, Jo decided to stay with the current role as a Branch 2-I-C, in order to spend more time with family. When the new Manager needed a confidante, in addition to the ones that were already on their leadership team, Jo was the person, a real touchstone for the new Manager and broadly the leadership team. In time people came to regard Jo as a go-to-person. When Jo finally retired, the celebration was well attended by the very people that Jo had worked with and guided along the way.

According to Maxwell, Jo is a staff member who has a lot of influence on the decision-making of the Division. Jo’s presence in the decision-making process, is a form of influence itself. In effect Jo holds Referent Power, as Jo has become a go-to person for the leaders of the Division. Effectively Jo was managing upward and could reasonably be described as a ‘senior leader’ within the Division, despite the classification grade.

The question of course, using the hypothetical case study of Jo, is this. What qualities might a leader, especially a designated senior leader, look for, in what this article will call the ‘Leader Adviser’? Some obvious traits would include:

• Excellent at maintaining confidentiality.
• Credibility with their peers and with senior leaders.
• Highly competent and professional within their own area of responsibility.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Honesty, especially when asked to offer an opinion.
• Excellent understanding of the history and culture of the organization and its vision.
• Active Listening skills.
• Knows how to ask questions of the leader.
• Excellent Coaching skills. Has the ability to help the leader realize the answer themselves.
• Highly credible in planning and strategic thinking.
• Excellent at ‘possibility thinking’.

This list is not an exhaustive one. Indeed, the context of the situation may lend its self to the inclusion of other traits and abilities. What is of interest, is its alignment with the top six    ‘Characteristics of Admirable Leaders’, identified in the remarkable research of James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.

For the majority of people to follow someone willingly, they want a leader who they believe is:

• Honest
• Competent
• Inspiring
• Forward-looking.
• Dependable
• Supportive

Kouzes, James, M., Posner, Barry, Z. (2023). The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations (Seventh Edition). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p21.

Clearly in looking for a ‘Leader Adviser’, the senior leader is looking for someone who has exceptional leadership characteristics. Ideally they might be in some type of leadership role, as Jo is but this isn’t a necessity. This isn’t a senior leader looking for a regular monthly coaching session. This is a leader who is looking for someone that they could be led by, when their advice is sought. In every respect, they are looking for a leader’s leader, which is why the ‘Leader Adviser’ aligns with the ‘Characteristics of Admirable Leaders’, identified by Kouzes and Posner. In asking someone to take on such a role, the ‘Leader Adviser’ will likely find themselves imbued with ‘Referent Power’. Writing for Forbes, Mitchell Sowards (2019) concisely explains Referent Power.

“In short, referent power is defined as someone having “influence over others, acquired from being well-liked or respected by them.””

Sowards, Mitchell. (2019). How Do You Build ‘Referent Power’ Leaders In Your Business? (October 4, 2019).

The power that the ‘Leader Adviser’ has, obviously needs to have defined boundaries. In the hypothetical scenario cited above, the Division Manager is talking to their ‘Leader Adviser’ about operational matters, policy matters and directional issues for the Division. The conversation might be: “Jo, I wanted to get your opinion about issue ‘X’?” Or “Jo, we have to review this policy, which aspects of it do you think we could improve? What’s the best way to seek the views of the staff?” This is Referent Power at work. What this example highlights, is that Referent Power can be highly influential and impactful, if used wisely. To hold enduring power, including enduring Referent Power, brings a set of characteristics additional to what has already been identified. Mark C. Crowley, in his excellent book “Lead From The Heart’, cites the research and the four key identifiable characteristics of a person entrusted with enduring power.